How Arthur's Big Hit SHOULD Have Gone
by WileE2005
Summary: I found it a bit stupid how in the real episode, only Arthur got punished, though D.W. did something wrong too. So here's a more realistic version with them BOTH getting what they deserve!


**HOW "ARTHUR'S BIG HIT" SHOULD HAVE REALLY GONE**

By WileE2005

DISCLAIMER: Adapted from the episode "Arthur's Big Hit" by Joe Fallon and Marc Brown. I do not own these characters.

D.W. had just sneaked into Arthur's bedroom to play with Arthur's completed model of the Bell X-1 rocket plane. Wearing an empty popcorn tub on top of her head as a "helmet," she ran around Arthur's room "flying" the plane in her hands. Imitating jet noises, she pretended to speak into a radio microphone, "D.W. Read to headquarters. Sound barrier broken. What's my next mission, general?"

It was then she noticed the open window. She figured the plane would probably be able to fly very well through the air, and then she could catch it. She was sure Arthur wouldn't even notice. "There's a good breeze today, general!" she said.

Then she leaned back, aimed, and launched the plane out the window. But it just fell straight to the earth, and shattered in a mess of gray and orange shrapnel with a big _Crunch!_

D.W. was shocked. Arthur would not be pleased. But she had to tell him right away, hoping he'd go easy on him. Doffing her popcorn tub helmet, she ran downstairs and told Arthur something relating to the incident…

"Arthur, you made that plane all wrong. It doesn't fly at all!"

Smiling, Arthur began, "No D.W., I made it exactly ri…" He stopped. "WHAT?!"

Arthur's world seemed to shatter around him. He instantly figured out what had happened. Nonetheless, when he and D.W. went outside to inspect the damage, he still did his distinctive wheezy gasp when he saw what was left of his model plane.

The plane was beyond repair. The nose had snapped off the front, the windshield had shattered, the wings broke off, and the whole front had been separated from the rest of the body in the crash, showing the plane's turbine motor inside. Arthur picked up his destroyed model as thunder rumbled overhead and the wind picked up.

"If it could break the sound barrier," D.W. said as Arthur dropped his broken plane, "falling out of a window shouldn't be able to break it!"

"I told you not to touch it!" Arthur said angrily.

D.W. did not realize the threat. "You built it all wrong! Did you even read the directions? It didn't fly for one second." As she was saying this, Arthur got up, gritted his teeth and made a fist. He was really furious. "It's not MY fault if you made a plane that can't fly…" D.W. continued.

Arthur cut in. "I told you… NOT TO TOUCH IT!" And with that, he punched D.W. on the shoulder, rather hard!

D.W. fell to the ground, and began to head back into the house, wailing hysterically. "WAAA-HAAA-HAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Her arm did hurt pretty badly.

Apparently, their mother heard the hit from outside, and as she saw D.W. entering the house while crying in pain, she instantly figured out what had happened. She called, "Arthur Timothy Read, COME HERE!"

"Uh-oh," Arthur said to himself as he entered. "Middle name!" He knew when his parents addressed him by his middle name that he hated (because it sounded rather wimpy, and one of D.W.'s friends also had the same first name as Arthur's middle name), that he was in major trouble.

…

A short while later, Dad had arrived home, after hearing what happened. As it poured outside, D.W. was sitting on the kitchen counter, wearing a yellow undershirt and jean shorts, sobbing and clutching her wounded arm as Dad was tending to her. Dad did not know why Arthur had hit her yet…

"Are they gonna have to 'amputake' my arm?" D.W. asked.

"No honey, it's _amputate,_ not 'amputake,'" Dad corrected her.

"They're gonna AMPUTATE?!" D.W. whined.

"No, I'm in charge, and I'm putting ice on it. Dad then placed a homemade ice pack on D.W.'s arm, and as he did, D.W. began to scream. "What's wrong?" he asked as he took it off.

"That's cold," D.W. said softly.

…

Out in the foyer, Mom was talking with Arthur. She was pretty disappointed. "Apologize to your sister," she ordered him.

"NO WAY!" Arthur cried. "She should apologize to me." He held up his mangled model plane. "I worked all week on this. I told her a million times not to touch it!"

Now Mom was beginning to understand how it all began, but it was still no excuse for what had happened.

Dad walked by, carrying the still half-naked D.W. in his arms. "You're BAD!" D.W. said.

"No, YOU are!" Arthur argued to her.

Dad stopped, and he and Mom glanced at each other.

A short while later in the den, Mom and Dad were seated on the sofa, with Arthur and D.W. on chairs facing them.

"Arthur, D.W.," Dad said angrily, "what you both did has earned you both no TV for a week!"

"WHAT?!" Arthur and D.W. both yelled in unison.

"That is so unfair!" Arthur complained. "You don't even care what she did to me!"

"We do so," Mom said. "What she did was wrong, but what you did is wrong too. So you both have to be punished."

D.W. resumed sobbing, and Arthur let out a soft "Humph!" He figured it was all D.W.'s fault, and yet he had to share the punishment with her.

…

The next morning, Arthur told Buster what had happened as they walked to school. "So I missed _Bionic Bunny_ last night, and D.W. and I can't watch TV all week, though it was her fault. Can you believe that?"

"No, I don't believe it," Buster said, sounding disillusioned. "You hit your sister? That's terrible."

"Oh come on, like you never hit anybody!" Arthur said.

…

In class, Arthur told his friends about how D.W. broke his model plane he worked so hard on, and how he had to share D.W.'s punishment because he hit her.

"Arthur," Francine was telling him, "why didn't you just apologize?"

"Oh, come on!" Arthur said. "She wrecked my plane! Why can't anybody see MY side of this?" As he said this, Binky walked backwards into the classroom.

"Uh, because you're wrong?" Muffy suggested.

"Binky," Francine told Binky, whom was trying to avoid seeing Arthur, "did you hear that Arthur hit his little sister?"

"I haven't seen Arthur," Binky said, "as far as I know, Arthur isn't even here!"

Francine was confused. She said to Buster, making sure Binky wouldn't hear, "Maybe he's so upset about what Arthur did that he won't even LOOK at him!"

…

Later that day, after recess, Arthur and his friends were heading back into the school building. He was telling Fern about what had happen. "She broke my plane!"

"But she's just a little girl," Fern said.

Arthur didn't buy it. "Saying D.W.'s just a little girl is like saying a tornado is just a little wind!"

No one had any sympathy for Arthur. Even though D.W. wrecked his model plane, and she had also gotten what she deserved, they were all shocked and appalled at the thought of Arthur punching D.W., not apologizing and not feeling sorry for her.

…

Arthur wasn't the only one suffering. At D.W.'s preschool, she told her classmates about how she broke Arthur's model plane and got hit for it, and that taking away her TV privileges for a week was just adding insult to injury. The other kids did feel bad for D.W., though the Tibbles found it rather funny. However, they also did agree what D.W. did was wrong and should have been punished in the first place, even if Arthur didn't hit her.

Miss Morgan overheard as well. "D.W.," she said, "I think you should apologize to Arthur for breaking his model."

D.W. thought that over. Maybe Arthur would go easy on her then.

…

However, after Mom walked her home, they saw that Arthur was on the kitchen counter, being tended to a bruise on his arm, just like D.W. had the day before. D.W. was quick to learn that Binky had hit Arthur; very much like Arthur had socked her. Arthur had also gotten the idea, and finally figured that he and D.W.'s punishment was fair.

…

A while later, Arthur, with his sleeveless undershirt and a bandage on his left arm, was talking with D.W. in the dining room. "I'm sorry I hit you," he said, actually feeling a bit sorry for D.W.

"And I'm sorry I broke your plane," D.W. said. This had been the perfect opportunity to apologize to him, and she took advantage of that. Then she added, "But what kind of stupid plane doesn't fly?"

"A MODEL plane," Arthur answered.

"Well I didn't know," D.W. said. "I'm just a child. Give me a break!"

…

Even though they both still had no TV for the remainder of the week, they did feel better: D.W. for apologizing for what she did wrong, along with knowing that as long as she couldn't watch "Mary Moo Cow" for the week, Arthur was also unable to watch "Bionic Bunny"; and Arthur for not only agreeing the punishment was fair and apologizing to D.W., but for Binky hitting him to help him understand how bad it made D.W. feel.

END


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